JP 74004377 B describes caramel sweets that release carbon dioxide bubbles upon contact with saliva. Confectionaries with a very fresh taste are obtained by (1) mixing solid powdered acids (e.g. citric, tartaric) with water or ethanol; (2) drying and pulverizing; (3) mixing a solid carbonate (e.g. NaHCO3) with water and binder; (4) mixing the acid and carbonate powders; (5) passing through a double-axle roller to form half-dry thin sheets, and damping with ethanol; (6) coating with diluent salts and forming into a foamed powder using a pneumatic pulverizer, (7) mixing sugar, millet jelly, condensed milk, wheat flour, milk, etc. and boiling down to a caramel; (8) adding the powder obtained in step (6) to the caramel at 37-45° C.; and (9) cooling to obtain the product. In this process, a standard caramel is used having a water activity (aw) of about 0.7, i.e., it contains a high free water content. Since the effervescent powder is highly reactive with free water, it must be protected by encapsulation with diluent salts to give the foamed powder that is added to the caramel. If the effervescent powder were not protected, it would react with the free water present in the caramel over time, e.g. during storage and its effervescent effect would be reduced or lost before it reached the consumer.
Thus, there is a need for improved effervescent carmel products and these are now provided by the present invention.